FORENSIC INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES

by Charles Wilelm

Forensic investigative techniques is an area of Bigfoot research that needs to be utilized more than it has been in the past. To some Bigfoot investigators, forensic investigative techniques may be a new thing. There are only a few investigators who are actually applying the techniques of the forensic sciences in their investigations.

The Bigfoot investigator has always been a detective. Traditionally he/she has had to use his tools and talents for gathering evidence for his/her investigations. The application of science by the investigator has pointed the way for many of the ideas and techniques that were later to be discovered very beneficial regarding Bigfoot investigations.

The Bigfoot investigator maybe regarded as the Sherlock Holmes of his/her field. After all, it was Sherlock Holmes who inspired many new techniques for investigating crime that became standard procedures for law enforcement around the world. It was just a matter of time before his techniques of investigation would be recognized. Those techniques are now called the forensic sciences, and are used by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The forensic sciences must be used more extensively in the investigation of Bigfoot cases. The multitude of problems an investigator faces at the site of an alleged Bigfoot case are compounded when the investigator is not prepared to secure all the evidence left behind by the unknown. These cases are not common, but neither are they so rare as to preclude specialized training and instruction in their proper handling. It is a well recognized fact that mistakes are made during preliminary investigations, especially in an alleged Bigfoot case, may well prove fatal to the successful conclusion of the investigation.

In this article, I intend to provide the Bigfoot investigator with some useful guidelines and procedures for using the forensic sciences. Then, each Bigfoot case may be pursued confidently and successfully to the identification and reconstruction of what took place. I will discuss briefly the following:

The importance of preserving prints and impressions as evidence
Walking pictures
Tracking a wounded or hurt creature

In future articles, I will devote special attention to such critical areas as preplanning, availability of expert assistance, surface processing and examination of evidence, proper removal of evidence, kinds of evidence, soil sampling techniques, proper methods of preserving prints, lab testing, etc. So lets begin with the first of the three areas that I mentioned above.

A. THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING PRINTS AND IMPRESSIONS AS EVIDENCE

Reading prints or impressions is not easy. Just as a criminal investigator, with certain broad principles in mind, finds each situation somewhat different, the Bigfoot investigator must be prepared to use ingenuity to try an interpret what he/she sees. A print in the mud may look different from one in dust, or in snow, even if the same creature or unknown made them. A print in snow is different after a warm sun has shone on it, causing enlarging and distorting effects.

The print in many instances, especially an alleged Bigfoot track, may not seem to fit other similar tracks, because it is not all there; it may not show all the toes and it may be off-shape due to an irregularity in the ground. Remember, a perfect print is not always found.

The degree of precision with which the modern Bigfoot investigator is able to use the techniques of taking impressions and making casts in order to obtain evidence is well known to the professional criminal investigator. You may be interested to know, however, that many of the methods and materials that law enforcement agents use today are essentially similar to those used by the Bigfoot investigator. So similar are the techniques used by workers in these unrelated fields that one particular impression taking material, which originally was developed for use in criminological identification, has found a much wider application in the field of Bigfoot research.

In many cases, positive identification of similarities from other cases have been made. This, however, is dependent upon the condition of the print or impression left at the scene of the event, the ability of the Bigfoot investigator to reproduce the print or impression, and the condition of the evidence when it is examined. In some cases, the markings found in a print or impression are not sufficient to support positive identifications, but even in these cases the general similarities in size, design and shape may be important circumstantial evidence. For this reason, fragmentary or indistinct prints or impressions should not be discarded or overlooked by the investigator.

B. WALKING PICTURES

The term "walking pictures" relates to the footprints or other signs left by a walking unknown. Native American hunters were skilled in the art of interpreting those signs and were able to learn many things about the walker by the study of their tracks and other signs. It is possible to tell the relative size of the thing being tracked; whether it was walking or running; whether it was hurt or fatigued, and several other factors about its condition and identity.

In the act of walking, the heel of the foot is first placed on the ground. The sole is then pressed to the ground from the heel forward to the toes. The foot is raised by exerting pressure against the toes. As each step is taken, the weight of the body exerts greater pressure on the outer and rear parts of the heel and sole. In describing the walking picture the following terms apply:

The direction line indicates the direction in which the walker is moving.
The walking line is an imaginary line that fuses with the direction line and runs along the inner sides of both heel prints.
The foot line is a straight line through the longitudinal axis of the footprint and shows the angle in which the foot is put down at each step. The angle between the foot line and the direction line is called the foot angle.
The foot angle indicates a characteristic movement of the walker and does not vary except when the subject is standing still, running, walking up or down a slope or carrying a heavy weight. The foot angle of a male usually is greater than that of a female.
The step length is the distance between the centers of the walker's successive heel prints. The distance depends on the size and speed of the walker. An individual walking stealthily or one who is hurt will take steps which are very short in proportion to the length in their legs. The step length is said to vary from 20 to 40 inches.

Footprints of an individual who has stopped walking may indicate how long it stayed in one spot. Usually, the individual will shift its weight from one foot to the other a number of times and the depth of the footprints in the soil will show how long it remained standing in one place.

C. TRACKING A WOUNDED CREATURE

Sometimes an investigator may be required to track or follow a wounded or hurt creature. If the creature moves from soft ground to a hard-surfaced road, its footprints will no longer be distinct and it may be necessary to follow other signs. For example, blood spots may be seen on the hard surface.

Drops or smears of blood if found on the hard ground provides a means of following the creature, and an accumulation of stains will tell where a creature stopped for any length of time. If the creature is hurt in the leg, the blood will run down the legs and the stains will appear as smears along the road. Blood flowing from wounds in the arms will splatter the hard surface with drops. Drops of blood falling a short distance will appear as round spots unless the surface is rough or uneven. As the height from which the drops fall increases, the round spots will form tooth-like jagged edges.

It is possible to trace the direction in which the creature was moving by spots of blood. When the first part of a drop of blood from a moving creature touches a hard surface, the remaining portion of the drop is still moving in a horizontal direction and splatters over the first part, forming the tooth-like projections from the original spots. The direction of these projections determines the direction in which the creature was moving. If the creatureÆs movement was rapid, the blood drops will be long and narrow and resemble exclamation marks. The pointed ends of the exclamation marks indicate the direction in which the creature traveled.

The most important thing for the investigator to remember when tracking a hurt or wounded creature is to be extremely careful. It is not recommended to track any hurt or wounded creature, unless the investigator is an experienced woodsman or tracker. Safety must always come first, even before any investigation.

I have only touched lightly on just a few areas of forensic investigative techniques. Although no two Bigfoot cases are exactly alike, the basic facts remain the same. The creature is gone, and the investigation of the case forces the investigator to make use of all his talents and training. Part of this talent and training should be utilizing the forensic sciences.

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